Eye on You
by myao3stories
Summary: Niles has his eye firmly on Selena, partially to scout out her motives, and partially because the view is fantastic.
1. Chapter 1

Selena could sense she was being followed, not that it was particularly difficult to spot her pursuer out in the crowd. Ever since Niles began stalking her, Selena's usual shopping sprees have been cut down significantly. _Jeez, doesn't this guy have_ anything _better to do?_ She thought bitterly, putting the mug she was looking down hard.

Selena rounded the corner where Niles was leaning against the wall, arms crossed and with a grin that needed a good smack. She closed the distance between them quickly, slamming her fist into the wall behind him. "Mind telling me what you're doing here? You sure don't _look_ like you're shopping."

Niles didn't bat an eye as Selena glared into his, he kept that grin on his face as he explained, "I told you that I don't trust you. So, I'm sticking to you like glue until I figure out your secrets, or at least figure out your tastes."

"I don't need a chaperone like you, and what I buy is not even remotely your business!" She punched the wall again in frustration, causing the plates on the wall to wobble.

"You know, I think you're supposed to put me in the corner before doing that," Niles nodded to her arm.

"What are you talking about now?"

"This situation, of course. Usually the person being accosted should be in a corner where you can put both arms out to block me from escaping your sensuous grasp."

Selena's face twisted in disgust. "Ugh, as _if_ I'd want you that close. Besides, you'd probably find a way to wiggle out of that _situation_."

"Oh, I don't know…" Niles sunk further into the wall, sighing dreamily. "You've got such strong arms, I don't know if I'd want to get free from your embrace. And, more importantly, I'd be able to test out a rumor about Camilla's retainers."

Selena's face flushed, both in anger and embarrassment, "Nope. I'm turning around and going back shopping until you get bored and leave me alone."

"Oh, well, in that case, why don't you answer something for me?" Niles stood up straight and stepped closer to Selena, who had to step back. "Why _do_ you feel such a need to buy all this junk?"

Selena folded her arms, glaring into Niles' eye, "Maybe I just like having things, did you ever think about that?"

"Like having things, eh? Sounds like you were born with a silver spoon firmly in your mouth. I feel like I'm getting to know you even more now!"

"Well, jokes on you, bud, because you couldn't be farther from my past if you tried!" Selena smirked, content in knowing she had temporarily bested Niles.

"Ah, I see," Niles matched her smirk, stepping back against the wall. "Born with little, you enjoy having a lot of junk! Interesting…"

Selena's smirk reversed itself into a deep frown as she realized she fell into Niles' psychoanalytical trap. "Don't you have anything better to do? Like go kick a puppy or something?"

"Ah, you're right, I should leave you alone," Niles began walking towards the front of the shop, much to Selena's relief. "If I stayed any longer, you'd probably ask me to carry your trinkets, and then who knows what rumors would start in camp?"

"Oh, as if-" Selena's scathing remark was cut short as Niles left the shop, leaving the retainer a sputtering mess as she resisted throwing a mug where he was standing. All she knew is that she had to get him back, one way or another.


	2. Chapter 2

Getting back at Niles was proving to be more difficult than Selena had thought originally. Apparently, his boasting that he slept with one eye open wasn't exactly a joke. As far as she could tell, he didn't have a single unguarded moment. When she had trailed him earlier, he had led her in circles around camp four times before she had realized he was actively messing with her.

Niles gave his cocksure grin and explained he was on patrol duty, nothing more. Selena replied that it was hard to believe him when he had a smug look on his face.

Regardless of her failure during the day, Selena knew that he had to sleep at some point. Luckily for her, despite Niles' tent being rather small, it still had plenty of hiding spots and she was able to situate herself in a corner just out of sight behind a few, large bags. She didn't know what was actually _in_ those bags, but judging by the smell, she didn't want to consider it too long.

Frankly, she didn't even know what she was going to do once he arrived and went to sleep. However, she was ever one to live in the moment, so she was certain that an opportunity would present itself. As she heard him approach, Selena held her breath.

Niles walked into the tent, shrugging his coat off and tossing it at the foot of his cot. He began to run his hand through his hair, but stopped suddenly. The way Niles tensed up reminded Selena of a feral dog sensing something encroaching on its territory.

"Ah, if I had known you were going to be making a nightly call," Niles said, slowly moving towards the bags and Selena. "I would've brought flowers, or, perhaps, something a bit more-"

"Don't even _think_ the rest of that sentence!" Selena stood up, and quickly vacated the corner with the bags. "What is in those things, anyways? And, more importantly, how did you know I was over there?!"

"Please, give me _some_ credit…" Niles pointed to her head. "You're not so small as to not poke out with that bright, angry red. Also, you shouldn't wear cheap perfume on a stakeout."

Selena folded her arms indignantly, "I'll have you know that this perfume was actually pretty expensive!"

"Ah, my mistake," Niles was grinning like a madman. "I guess this means you just have horrible taste when wasting money."

"That's- Ugh, you are so infuriating!"

"Before I continue to make your brow furrow cutely, mind telling me the actual reason you snuck in here? If I hadn't realized it was you, well, things would've been messy."

"Because I was going to get you back for always tailing me, duh! I thought you were smart enough to have figured that out."

"Here I thought you would've given up after this afternoon," Niles took a few steps towards her. "Or did you enjoy my backside as much as I enjoyed watching yours?"

"That's not important!" Selena was glad for the dark tent, she could feel her face growing hot. "Look, I just wanted to get you off my back, so as long as you understand that, I won't have to follow you again."

"While I'm not one to usually complain about beautiful women following me around, I fail to see how I'm supposed to trust you if you break into my tent and wait to pounce on me…"

"Since when has this been about trust?"

"Didn't I mention why I was going to shadow you? No past, no trust. Simple as that," Niles rubbed his chin, in mock thought more than anything. "Of course, you could tell me, and then we'd be squared away!"

"I… I still can't," Selena sighed, looking away from him.

"Then my hands are tied until you earn my trust. Now, unless you really aren't going to join me, I would like to get some sleep. It was exhausting trying to patrol while keeping an eye on you."

"As if!" Selena moved around Niles, whose eye followed her closely. She brushed close to him as she circled around him, and she could swear he inched closer to her _just_ to bump into her. Their eyes met as she passed, and would have froze in place if it wasn't for her completely ironclad nerves.

Even in the dim light, she had to admit that he was rather handsome up close. If it wasn't for his personality, she would've even been attracted to him. However, Selena realized that she had stopped moving this close to him, she hoped it wasn't longer than half a second. Judging by the smile on Niles' face, the chance of that was fairly low.

"You know," he started as Selena reached the tent flap. "I was wrong about you. That perfume smells fantastic up close."

Niles wasn't facing Selena, but she knew that he knew her face was as red as her hair at this point. "If you wanted to smell me, you didn't have to be a creep about it!" Before the implications of what she said could settle, Selena beat a hasty retreat.


	3. Chapter 3

It was late in the evening, the camp had died down to just patrols and a few night owls off on their own. This would be Selena's last chance to confront Niles before another long march, and equally long battle. Luckily for her, all of her tailing had let her know his schedule like the back of her hand. Granted, he also knew _hers_ just like the back of Selena's hand, but that's what happens when two people simultaneously follow one another most of the day.

"Alright, Niles, you and I are going to have an actual, serious discussion now," Selena said, rapidly approaching Niles.

"Have you finally come to profess your love for me at long last?" Niles had that smug look on his face that Selena had come to admire, from a purely aesthetic point of view, of course.

"You know what? Maybe I have!"

"If you are, then I'd appreciate not so many 'maybes'."

"Alright, so then," Selena paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. "So I _have_ come to profess some attraction towards you!"

"You do know I love dragging things out of you, in fact, it's become one of my favorite pastimes as of late…" Niles took a step towards her, their eyes meeting, boring holes into one another. "But I'm getting pretty impatient over here, so I guess _I'll_ have to be the one who says it first."

"Hold on, you're not seriously about t-" Niles put his finger over Selena's lips, and she had to resist biting it. She was an adult, after all.

"Not only am I serious about it, I feel like I should shout it from the top of a mountain."

Selena grabbed his wrist and pushed his hand from her face. "We're nowhere near a mountain, and I'm not letting you out of my sight long enough to let you go do that, either!"

"Oh?" Niles leaned in close to her, and even in the dim lighting of the camp, she could see the red on his face. Of course, she was no doubt just as red, but that's hardly the point. "Should I carefully whisper it into your ear, then?"

"That's… that's not necessary yet!" Selena stammered out, pushing him back slightly. "I mean, I've got a stipulation here, if you and I are going to be an item."

"Done and done."

"What?! But I haven't even said what it is!"

"Well, I think I can make a pretty good guess about what it is."

Selena rolled her eyes, folding her arms. "Oh, do you?"

"Remembering that I couldn't find jack about where you're actually from, I take it that you're going to ask 'I want to return there one day, you'll have to come with me, lover boy'. Or am I wrong?"

"Am I really that easy to read?" Not that Selena would've used the words "lover boy" like that. She'd have chosen classier words to describe Niles, even if he was the antithesis of polite.

"You're as easy to read as secret documents, feel free to take that however you please."

"Ugh, look… I'll tell you everything about who I am, and where I'm from, and all that good stuff," she shook her head, hands moving to her hips. "But you'll have to be patient for once, because until the war's over, I just _can't_ say anything."

"Unfortunately for you, that just means I get to make a game out of learning about you," Niles flashed her a grin. "How much can I learn before you confirm it all? In fact, I think we should start tonight, there's an out of the way area just over yonder."

"Or we could just go into your tent where no one would see us!"

"Well, if you insist…" Niles took her hand and walked with her towards his tent. "Here I just wanted to talk, but the way you made it sound, there wouldn't be too many words exchanged."

"You…" While Selena was at a loss for words, she walked faster than him and more or less dragged him into his tent. What was spoken there was not entirely verbal.


End file.
